I distinctly remember that, a few months ago, when I was explaining Singapore's gradual reopening policies, many descended on my page, pointing out what a great job HK was doing and how Singaporean government was too hasty and reckless.I cautioned all of them that Hong Kong not only has a relatively poor vaccination record but remained under near-total lockdown and isolation from the world. This would have to end at one point and the ill-prepared society would have to face the virus eventually.As it turns out, it wasn't even necessary for the restrictions to thaw for the virus to finally make its way in and, sadly for Hongkongers, I was right about the consequences.
Their current outbreak is nothing like what Singapore has ever had to face and their deaths per 1M people are already nearly double - with close to 340 vs. Singapore's 183 - and growing rapidly every day.Only 25% of Hongkongers received the booster shot (compared to 65% of Singaporeans) and the majority (about 60 to 40%) chose Sinovac over Pfizer mRNA vaccine, which offers much greater protection vs. Omicron (ca. 90% to just 36% for the Chinese vaccine, after three doses).
The consequences are downright catastrophic, particularly as the locals have had very little exposure to earlier variants that would have many of them develop a degree of natural immunity in the process.
The grave situation in HK is a result of a confluence of some of the worst factors: vaccine hesitancy, reliance on less effective vaccines, advanced age of the population and lack of earlier exposure that could compensate for lower immunity from the underperforming vaccine - all in the face of the most contagious variant (even if, on average, less lethal than the previous ones).
Remember, the pandemic is not over yet and any country practicing strict isolation will have to face the virus sooner or later.
If politics and ignorance dictate its preparations for that moment over medical data (e.g. vaccine efficacy), then we may see major outbreaks outside of Hong Kong as well. Chinese mainland, after all, is just over the border.
